A slumping Cory Vaughn hit a two-run homer in the South Atlantic League all-star game, helping the South to a 6-3 win. Taylor Whitenton started for the South, and gave up 2 runs, 1 earned with a strikeout in his inning of work. Chase Huchingson and Greg Peavey both pitched a shutout inning. Huchingson struck out 2. Now let’s check out the rest of the night on the farm:
Buffalo 9, Durham 1
Chris Schwinden went back to making quality starts, throwing 6 innings, giving just 1 run on 4 hits, striking out 3. Royota Igarashi pitched 2 scoreless frames, striking out 3, and John Lujan pitched a scoreless 9th. Nick Evans is all of a sudden red hot, collecting 4 hits and 2 RBI’s. After spending a month in the big leagues and not hitting, Evans is batting .521 in 6 games since being demoted. Jason Botts had 3 hits including a solo homerun. Michael Fisher and Zach Lutz each had 2 hits. Lutz homered for the second straight night.
Akron 10, Binghamton 8
Brandon Moore pitched well enough for the win, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits through 5.2. Then Brandon Sage and Richy Brooks both gave up 3 runs, and Roy Merritt gave up 2 more. Jordanny Valdespin continued his hot hitting, going 3-5 with a double and 3 RBI’s (if only he would take a walk every once in a while). Raul Reyes homered and drove in 4 runs. Jon Malo had 2 hits and Sal Manriquez had 3 hits. Reese Havens was 1-5, but did not strike out for just the second time in the last 9 games.
St. Lucie 9, Charlotte 0
The early morning start after a late night celebration did not phase St. Lucie one bit. Darrin Gorski allowed 1 base runner and struck out 6 in 6 innings in what could be his final start before a promotion. Estarlin Morel and John Church combined for 3 shutout innings. The 3 pitchers combined for a 1-hitter. Rylan Sandoval, who is hitting .189 and will be losing a lot of playing time with the promotion of Robbie Shields, launched 2 home runs, including a grand slam, totaling 6 RBI’s. Stefan Welch also hit a 3-run homer. Juan Lagares and Wilmer Flores both had 2 hits each.
Brooklyn 3, Aberdeen 2
Marcos Camarena got the start and surrendered 2 runs on 7 hits through 4 innings. Casey Hauptman, Tyson Seng, and T.J. Chism combined for 5 shutout innings, surviving 3 Cyclone errors. T.J. Chism got the win after Lucas Stewart doubled home Javier Rodriguez from first for the walk off win. Rodriguez doubled and drove in 2 runs earlier in the game. Ismael Tijerina, J.B. Brown, and Richard Lucas all had 2 hits each.
Johnson City 7, Kingsport 6 10 innings
The K-Mets battled back, but lost on opening night in 10 innings. Juan Urbina started and lasted 4 innings, letting up 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks, but he also struck out 4. The bullpen allowed 3 unearned runs, including the game winner, as a result of 4 Kingsport errors (Johnson City had 8. 8 Errors!). Julio Concepcion and Camden Maron each had 2 hits, and Gregory Pron had 3. Shortstop Miguel Tejada hit a solo homerun, but that was the only extra base hit for the Mets.
DSL Marlins 4, DSL Mets1 2
Ramon Estevez gave up an unearned run and struck out 6 in 4.1 innings of relief. Yeixon Ruiz and Eric Paguero had 2 hits each. Joan Decena drove in both runs, despite 3 strikeouts.
DSL Indians 1, DSL Mets2 0
Persio Reyes pitched 5 innings and struck out 4. Edwin Barrera pitched 3 innings, striking out 5. The pitching was good but just 4 hits for the Mets. Jorge Rivero had one of them, a double. He’s hitting .301.
6 comments
stickguy
6/22/2011-11:37am at 11:37 am (UTC -4)
You could just make up random names for the DSL update, and no one would even know!
I hope Havens is still just shaking the rust off, having missed such a long block of time, and starting out behind everyone else (and broken in slowly). Hopefully he gets dialed in and goes off on a real hot streak. Even with the higher than normal K rate, he isn’t doing bad. Big 2nd half coming for i=him.
I wonder too if Valdespin can have someone get through to him and help with the growing up process (and maturing as a player). Intriguing bat though.
Gorski has been a machine. Amazing what a few mechanical tweaks can do for you, when it adds a new pitch, better control, and a few more MPH on the FB!
also points out the fine line with many guys in the minors between futre ML and never gonna be, and how guys can go from one to the other pretty quickly when they are on the fence.
Bryan
6/22/2011-12:25pm at 12:25 pm (UTC -4)
I agree about the DSL players, but if the same names keep popping up, eventually people might start to recognize them.
I think for now as long as Havens stays healthy, there’s no reason for concern. If by August he can get hot and end the season strong, that would be a great sign, but if he stays healthy and puts up mediocre numbers, that’s still a good thing.
At some point Valdespin needs to realize for himself that he’s never getting to the big leagues if he doesn’t change some things.
metsfan4decades
6/22/2011-1:19pm at 1:19 pm (UTC -4)
I’m still banking on Havens being the long term 2nd baseman of the future for the Mets. Not sure when he actually gets here but when he does, I’m hoping it translates and it’s for good.
metsfan4decades
6/22/2011-1:18pm at 1:18 pm (UTC -4)
…..also points out the fine line with many guys in the minors between futre ML and never gonna be, and how guys can go from one to the other pretty quickly when they are on the fence.
I was going to comment something similar. Why is it that those such as Duda and Evans do very well down there but it never seems to translate up here?
Why is it guys like Carrasco and Iggy can pitch well down there but come up here and not seem to get it done?
Is it me or are we seeing more of this than usual from our guys?
stickguy
6/22/2011-1:36pm at 1:36 pm (UTC -4)
some guys just aren’t good enough. Plenty of others just take some time to get used to the majors. GMs get paid a lot of tell the difference.
a guy like Duda hit a ton at AAA, and has been reported to be dealing with confidence issues in the majors. So it isn’t a matter of not being able to do it, more so a case of needing to relax and get confortable, and letting the talent take over.
DJ? Guys with a long track record of just not being good, just aren’t good usually.
lots and lots of guys took some years to finally settle in at the ML level. But, MiL production does not always translate up.
Bryan
6/22/2011-3:32pm at 3:32 pm (UTC -4)
You’re def right about it taking guys some time to settle in. Look at Philip Humber, he didn’t stick in the big leagues when he originally came up, but now a few years later he’s doing very well, 7-3 record, 2.90 ERA, WHIP under 1. (That’s why he’s on my fantasy team)
Another explanation is that it’s just a big gap between AAA and the majors, bigger than any gap between minor league levels.